


Into the woods

by Utuinen



Category: Star Stable Online
Genre: Established Relationship, F/F, Late Night Conversations, Missing Scene, Redwood Point
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-02
Updated: 2020-12-02
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:28:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27844498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Utuinen/pseuds/Utuinen
Summary: Rania and her girlfriend ride with the Jorvik Rangers to the abandoned station at Redwood Point, with plans to take the station back into use. Staying the night at the station was part of the plan, but a heavy storm keeps the girls awake.”Hey. Did the thunder wake you?””You too?” Rania asked, relaxing next to her girlfriend in front of what must have been an open window. The wind had calmed but the rain had not, and small drops splashed inside.
Relationships: Rania Varanger/Player Character (Star Stable)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 9





	Into the woods

**Author's Note:**

> For once I actually wrote something that is completely sso canon compliant... Didn't think that would happen.

The ride to Redwood Point had been an adventurous one, but in the end all five of them left had made it there alright, and it was time to settle in. For all the years of unuse, the Ranger station was not in as bad a shape as it could have been, but there was still work to be done. A lot of carrying stuff out of the way, a lot of tidying up, a lot of fixing things. A lot of things you needed sighted eyes for.

While the rangers saw to the vicinity of the station and her girlfriend journeyed a short way into the forest in order to fix the paddock’s fence, Rania was happy to take care of the horses. She unsaddled them and went through all of their gear, asking Enitan to take them to the cleared-out saddleroom in the stables when the man passed by. Rania brushed the horses, saving her dear Dellingr for the last because she knew he wouldn’t mind the wait. Rania was happy to be with the horses, happy about the way she could feel their calm after the weird lightning earlier, because she herself wasn’t entirely sure she liked the feeling she got from the woods surrounding them. The air was heavy, and the forest seemed... muted, almost. She could hear the birds and the little animals, but somehow none of them sounded quite right. Or maybe it was just her imagination.

A crow cawed at her, loud and somewhere close, and she smiled. As if it was trying to tell her there was nothing odd going on.

”Okay, we can take the horses inside now,” Rowan greeted her when she was done with brushing.

”Is it a big stable?” Rania asked, taking Dellingr by the headstall. He could easily show her the way, she trusted him enough for that, but with the rest she had no doubt they would eagerly follow behind the horse Rowan walked to the stalls. And by then she would be familiar with the way, too.

”Not very. But absolutely big enough,” Rowan laughed, a hearty, deep laugh. ”We only cleaned five boxes for now, we have time to do the others later.”

The stables smelled musty and old, but it was not horrible and luckily water hadn’t gotten in from anywhere, so everything was dry and nice.

”That friend of yours. Is she originally from Jorvik?” Rowan asked when they had stabled the last of the horses, all of them content with some fresh hay, oats and molasses as well as water in front of them.

”She’s only visiting,” Rania said. She fully understood the surprised reaction Rowan had at that, because it wasn’t often you met someone who understood the real Jorvekian spirit better than the girl did. She was masterful with horses and as far as Rania knew, had never found Jorvik’s many traditions and old tales ridiculous like some people from the big world tended to do when they first arrived on the island.

Rowan whistled a little. ”I was so sure she was local. Something about the way she moves in the nature, you know?”

Rania knew. She had never seen it the way the ranger had, but she knew it well. It was one of the reason’s she had first seriously liked her, the way she seemed to get along with not only horses but all animals and cared for the environment.

When they walked to the hut, they met with Tiera and Enitan who were ready to start cooking. Since they hadn’t yet had the time to prepare the kitchenette they had agreed to make a fire and grill something.

”Isn’t she back yet?” Rania asked when it became apparent her girlfriend had yet to return from fixing the fence.

None of them had seen her since she left, and for some reason Rania felt a twinge of worry. She was perfectly capable of looking after herself, even if she wasn’t familiar with this particular part of the woods, and still... Rania wished she would have gone with her. The rangers talked, discussing if they should go and check if she needed help with the fence and make sure nothing had happened. The wind was picking up and the others said that the sky was clouding up again, which also meant that if they wanted to make food outside they should hurry before it started to rain.

Just when they had agreed that Rowan and Tiera would stay to make a fire and Enitan and Rania would go down the forest to take a look, Tiera raised her voice, ”Oh, there she is!”

Rania heard her steps as she walked up the small hill. Then a short silence.

”Sorry, did you get worried already? There was more to fix than I first thought.”

Rania let go of the breath she was holding without having noticed it herself. That was definitely her girlfriend’s voice. Obviously. Who else would it have been, especially when the others had already identified her? It was something about the air, it made her uneasy.

Rowan thought she sounded a little shaken up and asked if anything out of ordinary had happened, but the girl simply shook her head and said that it was nothing. Rania furrowed her brows—she was not sure she believed that from her voice. But she had to quickly push her doubts aside as everyone else clearly did, and the subject moved on. She walked up to Rania and playfully leaned against her shoulder, asking what they would have for dinner.

”We need the fire first,” Rania smiled at her, and together all five of them began their preparations.

Rowan and Tiera got started with the fire and so Enitan, Rania and her threaded various selections of the meat and vegetables they had with them on skewers, making few vegan ones and staying mindful of everyone’s allergies. They washed their hands in a bucket of water when they were done and Enitan carried the skewers on a tray to the campfire.

The firewood Rowan and Tiera had found had unfortunately been damp and smoked a lot, but they were all just happy they had managed to light a fire in the first place. It would not have been nice to have to go to bed without a decent, warm meal, especially not when the wind blew stronger and stronger, catching their hair and making their hands stiff from the cold. By the time they were finishing their skewers, the first water droplets fell from the sky and they hurried to put out the fire and get inside. Not a moment too soon, as the rain quickly turned into heavy pour, drumming against the Ranger station’s roof. 

”Well, guess there’s not much more to be done today. We should get some sleep so we can continue tomorrow,” Rowan said and they made their beds together on the floor of the main room, with enough space between their sleeping bags that no one would get stepped on if someone needed to go to the outhouse at night. They all wished they didn’t need to, because the storm didn’t sound like it would be over before the morning.

”Good night, everyone.”

* * *

Rania didn’t know what time it was when she woke up. All she knew was that the world wasn’t quiet, a loud crack of thunder booming above them. After it was gone, silence followed. No one moved and the way everyone breathed Rania was sure they were still asleep, which probably meant it was still too early to get up. She fished out her phone—not that it had any connection all the way out here—and the screen reader told her in quiet volume it was around half an hour past the midnight.

She was just about ready to get back to sleep when she heard someone move in the next room over.

Curious, Rania got up and carefully walked across the floor avoiding all the sleepers until she felt a wall in front of herself. She found the door and creaked it open, slipping through it into the next room.

”Hey. Did the thunder wake you?”

”You too?” Rania asked, relaxing next to her girlfriend in front of what must have been an open window. The wind had calmed but the rain had not, and small drops splashed inside.

”I couldn’t really get sleep in the first place, I guess I still had too much energy from the day,” she answered Rania. ”We can close the window if you’re cold, I just thought the rain smelled nice.”

”Hmm, it’s okay,” Rania said. And she agreed, the rain did smell nice. The chill was refreshing after all the dusty, unused rooms, even after they had tried to air them out.

Another boom.

”A lightning flash! It’s right above us,” the girl told Rania sounding excited, not scared. Rania smiled, happy for her enthusiasm.

”What did the forest look like, fixing the paddock?” Rania asked.

”It’s very nice, the paddock continues all the way until a small creek. It’s a very beautiful place, I’m sure you’d like it. There were water lilies and frogs and fallen trees to make bridges.” As she talked, her voice turned a little hesitant, that same worry taking Rania in its hold. Earlier she might have believed she had imagined that, but not anymore.

”Did something happen? Are you scared of something?” Rania didn’t really want to think about what it would take to make her _scared_. She always faced everything with such calm and readiness where Rania was eager and maybe a little foolhardy, sometimes.

She was quiet for a while, until eventually she spoke. ”Not scared, not really. Just... well. Awed maybe? You remember the white deer Enitan talked about?”

”You saw it?” Rania asked, the worry suddenly taken over by excitement.

”I... think I did. And I touched it, before it ran away,” she admitted.

”You touched it?”

She tried hushing Rania so that they wouldn’t wake the others still asleep in the next room, but apparently the strong reaction made her laugh.

”Yeah. It was a beautiful animal, truly. And quite tame, before it ran I mean,” she said.

The excitement worn off a little, Rania cocked her head to the side. ”Are you sure it didn’t have rapies? If you catch that it’s deadly, you know.”

”Oh, come on, I know what a rapid animal looks like,” she tried to sound offended but the laughter was still there. Rania smiled and laughed with her.

”So, do you believe it’s the mystical creature from Enitan’s tale?” Rania asked, once they had quieted into seriousness again.

”Do you think I’m stupid if I say ’yes’?” she asked and her nightshirt rustled. Rania could feel her arm against her own as she leaned against the window, probably staring outside into the rain. Rania wondered what kind of an expression she was showing. They were close and Rania could feel the warmth radiating from her where their skins touched.

”I’d never think you’re stupid,” Rania said, leaning her head against her shoulder. ”Or that you’re making things up. You can tell me everything, I promise to listen even if I can’t do anything to help.”

”Thanks,” she said, quiet. But she didn’t say anything more.

A while after they’d met Rania had felt there was something she was keeping from her, something important. While many times she’d thought to simply ask, she still hadn’t. Whatever it was, Rania was sure it was secret for a good reason. She trusted her.

Eventually Rania had to ask if they could close the window now. The chill had started to set in her bones and she was aware her sleeping bag wasn’t the thickest sort, so it would take a while for her to warm up even after she got back inside it.

Her girlfriend reached to pull the window shut, and as she did the sound of the rain softened. She took Rania’s hands into hers and blew on them. Her hands were chilly too but the air felt hot against Rania’s skin, prickling it in a pleasant way. ”Sorry, did you get cold?”

Rania shook her head to show that it wasn’t enough for her to mind, but the two of them stayed like that for a while still, huddled together. In the end they decided it was time for them to try and get more sleep after she nearly fell asleep standing, and they quietly tiptoed back to their sleeping bags.

* * *

The forest was transformed in the morning. The heaviness of the earlier day was gone, but the air still felt... expectant. Like something big was just around the corner for anyone to find if they were brave enough to venture into the woods.

”Are you going adventuring?” Rania asked her girlfriend as she saddled her horse, full of energy, though were that had came from after she had slept so lightly last night she wasn’t sure.

”Yes. Care to come with me?” she asked back, with a quick but well-aimed kiss to Rania’s cheek.

”Mmh, not today. I’d just fall asleep on Dellingr,” Rania said, her mouth curved into a smile. ”Besides there’s still a lot the rangers have to do here, I’ll help. You’ll just have to tell me all about it.”

”I will,” she said.

This time Rania didn’t feel worried at all when her horse’s hoof beats disappeared further away. At least she wasn’t alone, she had her horse with her. And any true Jorvekian knew that that was just as well as having their other half with them.


End file.
